280 Days
by Like A Dove
Summary: Zuko is just trying to be a good friend. Honest. Drabbles from Zuko's POV. Companion to 'Forty Weeks'.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: These drabbles are the companion to 'Forty Weeks', so I suggest you read that first. Each drabble is a snippet of what Zuko is up to during each chapter of 'Forty Weeks'. These were written for my own self amusement, honestly.**

1

Jien was annoying.

This wasn't exactly news or anything, but still. Sometimes he really wished she'd just…never speak again, honestly.

Like right now.

"—was thinking we could go to Ember Island in a couple of months and you could meet my grandmother. I think you'd like that—"

He grunted.

She was nuts if she thought that he had free time to just gallivant off to Ember Island for a couple of weeks. He was the Fire Lord, he had things to do. Still, at least the general's daughter was actually _sane_. The girl the board of advisors talked him into last year was currently in a mental institution. He liked to repress those memories.

"Zuko? Are you even listening?"

"Uh huh." He never took his eyes off the document in front of him.

"Could've fooled me. If you're not going to listen to me then I'll just stop talking."

_Victory!_

"Agni, are you _smiling_? You know Zuko, a relationship is a two way street—"

He started reading the document. It was actually a letter from Mai. She and Ty Lee were happy together (Zuko tried to imagine Mai smiling and failed), they had just spent a month in Ba Sing Se, his Uncle said hello, and that they were now traveling towards Ember Island because Ty Lee wanted to audition for one of the plays. She would send him another letter when they arrived.

"Why in Agni's name would she want to do that?" he muttered to himself.

"DID YOU EVEN HEAR A WORD I JUST SAID?"

He felt extreme irritation flare up inside him. Here she was in _his _personal office, prattling on about some utter bullshit and she had the nerve—

_Don't set the desk on fire. Don't set the desk on fire. Don't set the desk—_

"Fire Lord Zuko!"

Both Jien and Zuko immediately straightened up as a servant banged on his office door.

"Come in!" Zuko called out, brow furrowing in confusion.

The door flew open and a servant practically fell into the room.

"Fire Lord Zuko sir," he wheezed, clearly out of breath, "Lady Katara is here!"

Zuko's heart promptly fell into his stomach.


	2. Chapter 2

2

It was almost ridiculous how good of a mood he was in.

He was actually humming while he went over his paperwork. Humming!

"You've been smiling a lot lately," Jien observed from the other side of the room.

He actually looked up at her. "Have I?"

She frowned. "Seems to have a lot to do with Lady Katara's visit."

He froze. "Katara is a friend," he said coolly.

She stood and crossed the room until she was standing in front of his desk. "Zuko, I say this only because I am concerned for you. Lady Katara is hiding something, and I feel like it would be best if you asked her to leave."

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "That's ridiculous."

Her eyes widened at his disbelief. "I assure you, it's not!"

He narrowed his gaze at her. "If Katara has a secret, which she probably does because _everyone _has secrets, then that is her business. If she wishes to tell me, then great. If she doesn't, then so be it. But right now Katara is my guest and she can stay here as long as she wants to. Is that clear?"

Jien looked furious. "Yes, Zuko."

"That's _Fire Lord _Zuko."

Her mouth fell open in astonishment. He raised an eyebrow.

She took a step back. "Yes, _Fire Lord _Zuko," she ground out. "I say one thing about Katara and you bite my head off." She paused, a feral gleam in her eye. "Yes, I understand."

"_Lady _Katara."

"She does not deserve such respect," Jien spat.

"Leave," Zuko said through gritted teeth.

Jien's lips twitched into a smirk as she turned and let herself out of Zuko's office.

He leaned forward and propped his elbows up onto his desk, pinching the bridge of his nose. He took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself.

How did these women manage to get him so worked up?


	3. Chapter 3

3

"Po," Zuko called out to the head cook awkwardly as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Fire Lord Zuko!" Po exclaimed in shock. "Forgive me, but you are early sir. I'm afraid I don't have your noodles ready just yet."

"That's alright," Zuko said as he walked over to the raised island counter and leaned against it. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "I actually came in here to apologize to you."

"Oh?" Po asked, genuinely surprised. "What for?"

Zuko sighed again. He had never been too good at apologies. "Remember last month when Katara kept getting sick?"

"I do," Po answered, a twinkle in his eye.

"Well, I just want to say I'm sorry for yelling at you and blaming you for her sickness. Uh…food wasn't actually the reason, turns out."

Po waved him off. "Nonsense. You were merrily worried about the woman you love. Any man in your position would have done the same."

"What?" Zuko choked out.

"Well, it's obvious that you and Lady Katara—" The cook stopped himself when he caught Zuko's expression. He smiled at the Fire Lord knowingly. "Right, never mind."

Zuko turned his head away and stared at some of the pots and pans hanging against the wall. "Lady Katara is taken. She has been for some time now," he said quietly.

"Oh. That is a shame. Hopefully she is happy with whoever she is with. I must admit, I have become quite fond of that girl."

Zuko's lips pulled up into a smile.

_As have I._


	4. Chapter 4

4

Fuck it all.

He was sixteen again, in love with the pretty blue eyed waterbender who was in love with the Avatar.

Except she wasn't?

Had she ever been?

Now he just felt really confused. Feelings and emotions were barreling into him from all sides, leaving him nauseous. He was twenty three; he was supposed to have gotten over Katara a long time ago.

Except he hadn't. Not really.

Because here he was, pacing his bedroom, his thoughts consumed with a woman who was currently pregnant with _another man's baby._

He was a sick man. Just a sick, sick man.

He stopped moving and forced himself to take in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Okay. So Katara was _technically_ not with Aang right now. Sort of.

A part of him almost felt bad for the Avatar. After all, he would be devastated when he found out that Katara doubted her feelings for him.

But mostly, he wanted to beat the ever loving shit out of him for leaving her when she needed him most.

He'd lose in a fight with Aang, bending wise. But in hand to hand combat? Pssh. Zuko could _easily _knock a few teeth loose—

He sighed. These just weren't healthy thoughts.

Okay. He needed to sort out what he was feeling. Maybe if he said them out loud to himself they would be easier to accept?

"I'm pissed off with the Avatar."

Oh yeah. He already felt better. Uncle said that admitting things to yourself was the first step in accepting them.

And now for his feelings about Katara. He winced.

"I'm still…"

Sigh.

"I'm still in love with Katara."

There. That hadn't been so hard.

Thirty seconds later he was in his bathroom, throwing up his noodles.

Fuck it all.


	5. Chapter 5

5

_Her dark skin looked perfect against his red silk sheets._

_Their mouths and legs were entangled, and she had a fistful of his shaggy hair, nearly pulling it out in her eagerness._

_He tore his mouth away from hers, moving it to nip at her earlobe with his teeth, then dragging his lips down to caress her neck. He planted a kiss on her collarbone then swept his tongue down the valley between her breasts. He moved his mouth down across her taunt, flat stomach. Lower, lower, lower—_

_She arched her back and cried out, her grip on his hair painful now. He moved his hands to rest on her thighs in order to steady her—_

Zuko jerked awake with a gasp. He was soaked with sweat, his hair sticking to his forehead. He peeled the sheets away from his body and kicked them away, breathing raggedly.

He had had a sex dream about the girl he was in love with. Alright, fair enough. That wasn't unusual. At all.

Except the girl he was in love with was _still pregnant with another man's baby._

He covered his face with his hands and groaned.

This just wasn't healthy.

"Good morning Fire Lord Sparky!"

Zuko let out a shout and, in his haste to quickly sit up, tipped over and fell out of the bed.

Toph burst out laughing. "Sorry, was I interrupting something?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"_TOPH!_" Zuko growled as he picked himself up off the floor. "_HAS THE CONCEPT OF KNOCKING EVER OCCURRED TO YOU_?"

The earthbender shrugged and casually leaned against the doorframe, picking at her fingernails. "What'cha gonna do today?"

"Well, I don't know Toph," he said in frustration, "_work?_" He grabbed his twisted sheets and shoved them towards his pillows in a feeble attempt to make up his bed.

"See, I was thinking you could tell Katara how you feel about her."

"Wha—"

"I mean, it's about time am I right?" She had an amused expression on her face.

He huffed.

"Sparky?"

"Fuck you."

Toph just grinned.


	6. Chapter 6

6

Zuko wasn't overly fond of the noblewomen.

They were spoiled and pretentious, but the part that really got to Zuko was they acted like they were on the same emotional level as, say, the people that lived in the Lower Ring. They acted like they _understood_ them, when in reality they had no idea.

Then Zuko would feel like a hypocrite, because he didn't have much of a clue either. Living on the run for a few months with his Uncle didn't suddenly mean he had an idea of what it was like to be poor, especially considering the life he lived now.

But still, he liked to think he knew better than them. Maybe it was because he actually _cared _about the people in the Lower Ring, unlike the noblemen and women, who cared about others only when it was fashionable.

He was in the gardens, and it was a nice day, which meant that the rich from the Upper Ring would excuse themselves from their daily lives to come "tour" the palace gardens. In other words, they would come to hear the latest gossip from the servants. Usually Zuko wasn't bothered by this. His life as the Fire Lord had never really been gossip worthy, and quite frankly Zuko didn't really care about what other people had to say about him. He had something more important to worry about, and she was currently sitting underneath a cherry blossom tree with a scroll propped up and stretched out across her stomach.

Occasionally a noblewomen would walk up to her and say something, and Katara would peek up at them, answer as politely as she could before turning back to whatever she was reading. Then said noblewomen would walk away, but not before shooting Katara a _look_ over her shoulder.

Zuko's mother had drilled it into his head at a young age that men did not hit women, and that they were to be respected. And despite having a younger sister that he wanted to strangle on a daily basis, he had never dishonored himself by harming her.

Realistically Azula could've probably kicked his ass in a fight, but that was beside the point.

He had never thought that he'd encounter other women who would test his patience like Azula did, but whenever those noblewomen shot Katara that _look_, he felt fire spark between his fingertips.

"They're looking at her funny, aren't they?"

He jumped. He hadn't even heard Toph come up next to him.

"Yes," he ground out, trying not to sound as furious as he felt.

A moment later, all of the noblewomen had tripped over "a rock", spilling drinks down their fronts or getting dirt on their dresses. Hearing all the ruckus they were making, Katara looked up from her scroll and grinned when she took in the scene.

His heart sped up. Agni, he would do anything for that smile.

Toph turned and walked away from him, whistling.

His attention turned back to Katara, who was slowly getting to her feet. She steadied her balance before turning and walking out of the garden, and despite the disheveled state of the noblewomen, they still gave Katara's retreating back their _looks_.

Zuko realized he'd do anything to make those looks go away, even if it meant getting them to point in another direction.


	7. Chapter 7

7

Zuko legitimately felt bad for the servant who had volunteered to spar with him.

He punched his fist forward, letting a stream of fire jet from it. He had learned with Aang that firebending was first and foremost about how fire represented life and warmth, and how it shouldn't be fueled though hurt and rage.

But today, right now, was different. Because Zuko was pretty sure that his emotions were showing through his bending. And how could they not be? His fire was connected to him in ways that other benders didn't understand, so when he was truly feeling upset, it showed.

The kid he was sparring was starting to look concerned for his well being.

_He and Hakoda were in silence._

_Finally Katara's father looked up at him. "I'm assuming you have something a bit stronger then tea?"_

_Zuko nodded, walking behind his desk and bending down to pull out a bottle of an amber liquid. He grabbed two glasses and poured a measure of the liquid into each before handing Hakoda his and then staring down at his own._

_Hakoda knocked his back, wincing a little bit. Then he handed the now empty glass back to Zuko and sighed._

"_It's easy to care about her."_

_Zuko froze, dread twisting in his stomach._

"_She's really something special, my Katara. Lights up a room, makes you laugh, heals your wounds. But she's strong too, nothing gets past her. She's so much like her mother it's…" Hakoda trails off, shaking his head. "I can understand why you feel the way you do. I'd question your sanity if you didn't."_

_Zuko waits._

_Hakoda's head snaps up. "But you can't."_

He kicks up flames now, panting, furious.

The servant ducks and sends back feeble attacks in his defense. Zuko dodges them easily, mostly reacting on reflex. His mind is somewhere else entirely.

"_Sorry?"_

"_Katara is coming back to the South Pole, where she'll stay until Aang returns. Then they can decide what they want to do when it comes to raising the child. But Katara, she needs to come back home."_

"_Katara is an adult. Don't you think she should decide for herself where she wants to raise her own child?"_

_Hakoda shakes his head. "She's still so young—"_

"_She became an adult when she was fourteen, taking care of the Avatar—"_

"_You're not being fair to Aang. He's loved her for seven years—"_

"_And I haven't?" The room is turning red. Zuko must control himself, or else he'll breathe fire._

He started to grit his teeth and fling fireballs carelessly.

_He takes deep breaths, trying to calm down._

"_I'm sorry, son. Really, I am. But she's leaving with us after that baby is born."_

"_What if… what if I asked her to stay and she agreed? What then?"_

_Hakoda stands up and Zuko realizes that they are about the same height._

"_Is that a challenge?"_

_Zuko is about to shake his head, when he stops himself. He doesn't really know what it is. More of an act of desperation._

_Hakoda seems to come to the same conclusion. "You have no idea what you're doing, do you?" He sighs, unhappy, before making his way to the door. He stops at it, his hand lingering over the doorknob. "You know she loves you, right? Adores you, even. Like Sokka. Like a brother. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill, son." _

_Then he leaves._

_Zuko hurls his still full glass against the wall and doesn't flinch when it crashes._

A gasp of pain breaks him out of his reverie.

The servant he's sparring with, just a kid really, not much younger than Toph, is doubled over. On his forearm is a shiny, bright red burn.

Zuko immediately feels sick.

"I'm sorry," he chokes out, ashamed.

But the servant is already shaking his head. "Don't worry about it, Fire Lord Zuko. It's not that bad."

"If you take it to Lady Katara she can heal it for you," Zuko offers, still distressed.

The servant nods. "Okay. I'll tell her I was clumsy in the kitchen." With that he makes his way out of the training arena.

His heart is hammering, his palms are sweaty. He feels thoroughly confused and enraged at the same time, and yet he has no idea what to do.

He needs Uncle.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: LOL I don't even know about this one.**

8

Having a headache after a meeting with his board of advisors was becoming a common occurrence for Zuko. Uncle could not get here fast enough.

He walked along the corridors of his palace slowly, enjoying the peace and quiet they brought. He would have a few hours to himself before dinner since Katara was taking a nap, Sokka was somewhere eating food (this was just a guess), Hakoda was somewhere being intimidating (another guess), Katara's grandmother was charming the servants (guess), Suki was wherever Sokka was (probably fact) and Toph was doing Agni knew what (fact).

So Zuko was slightly surprised to spot Sokka leaning against his office door with a sword in hand, an apple in the other.

The Fire Lord froze, eyebrow raised.

"Ah, there you are." Sokka pushed himself off the door and began to slowly step in Zuko's direction, playing with his sword in what Zuko assumed was supposed to be an intimidating manner.

Zuko liked Sokka, really, he did. He considered Sokka one of his best friends, for lack of a better term. But he wondered if Sokka realized that Zuko could so easily beat the shit out of him in a fight.

Zuko leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. Sokka stopped in front of him, rubbing the apple against his shirt to…shine it? Zuko didn't pretend to know.

"Katara came to me this morning."

Zuko resisted the urge to groan.

"She told me she's planning to stay with you after the birth. And that you had given her a nursery."

Zuko sighed. "Listen—"

"No no no, let me finish."

And then Sokka's sword was at Zuko's throat, effectively pinning him against the wall.

Zuko blamed his headache for his complete lack of reflex. Really, it had been a long day.

"I'm assuming you're aware of the Bro Code."

Zuko had no idea what the Bro Code was. He did think that this was a bad time to roll his eyes, though.

"Normally the Bro Code states that one bro does not develop feelings for another bro's sister, but if said feelings are developed then the first bro must not let them be known."

"Sokka, what the fu—"

"Ah ah ah, I'm not done. If the first bro ignores the rules of the Bro Code, then the second bro is allowed to disembowel the first bro for clearly crossing the line."

Zuko blinked. The steel of the sword was uncomfortable against the skin of his throat. Where the _hell_ were his guards? Sokka had probably dismissed them. Zuko wouldn't put it past him.

"In this case, I am the second bro and you are the first bro. You have made a move towards my sister despite our Bro Friendship and thus have broken the rules of the Bro Code. Do you understand this?"

Zuko couldn't nod for fear of cutting himself.

"Despite everything, I put a lot of value on our Bro Friendship, not to mention my sister seems to be adamant about staying with you. So here's how this is going to go down. My sister stays here with you, and you two can be _together_ or act upon whatever clearly Romantic Gesture you gave to Katara through her new nursery." His blue eyes narrowed and he stepped in a little bit closer. "But if you hurt her, or do _anything_ stupid, I'll slit you from throat to navel, understand?" He moved his sword down to Zuko's lower stomach to further illustrate his point.

Zuko had now managed to think of four different moves he could do to get himself out of this pickle, but he decided to humor Sokka. He stayed put.

"Okay, fair enough. Although, you do realize that if it came down to that you'd be imprisoned and then executed for the murder of the Fire Lord?"

Sokka shrugged nonchalantly with one shoulder and bit into his apple. "Yeah well. I can be pretty evasive."

"Sure."

They stood there for a moment before Sokka moved his sword away from Zuko and grinned at him. "Alright then." He turned and walked into Zuko's office. "I was thinking—HEY IT'S THE DRAWING I PUT IN KATARA'S LETTER. You know, it's really not bad considering how fast I drew it…"

Zuko rubbed his temples, but smiled to himself.

All and all, he really did like Sokka.


	9. Chapter 9

9

Zuko watched Katara coo over Kiddo with a smile on his face.

"You sure you'll be okay with him?" she asked, apprehensive. He had encouraged her to leave the palace for a little bit and take some time for herself, since the past few weeks had been crazy. She had agreed, albeit reluctantly, and was taking the afternoon to visit the House of Xin Jai.

He nodded, trying to be encouraging, and Katara gently placed Kiddo in his cradle. She straightened up and bit her lip, nervous. "You don't want the nurses around or anything?"

He rolled his eyes. "I let them have the afternoon off. Katara, we'll be alright. Now get out of here."

"_Fine_," she huffed. She patted down her dress and walked swiftly out of the room.

Two seconds later she marched back in.

"Leave," he said flatly.

"But—"

"Nope."

"I'm worried."

He felt slightly offended at that. "It's just for a couple of hours and I'll be right here the whole time, okay?"

She worried her bottom lip for a moment before she finally gave him a jerky nod and stepped back toward the door. "I'll…I'll see you later then."

He smiled at her reassuringly and then she was gone.

Zuko peered into the cradle. Kiddo was sleeping peacefully.

He smirked. What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

1 HOUR LATER

* * *

"The great Fire Lord Zuko, bested by a baby."

"Shut _up _Toph," he growled, trying and failing to keep his composure.

Kiddo was on the high table that was used for changing cloths.

And his cloths needed to be changed.

Desperately.

"I would think it's not that hard. You just take off Squishy's dirty cloth, clean him up, and then put on a fresh one. Pretty simple if you ask me."

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. It would not do to say 'fuck' in front of the baby.

"Just…let me think for a moment. And don't call him Squishy."

"Why? He _is _squishy. And it's not like you or Katara have come up with anything better."

_Don't throw a fireball at her. Don't throw a fireball at her. Don't throw a fireball at her._

Kiddo began to cry, big tears falling out of his eyes.

"No, no…don't do that." Zuko quickly stepped up to the table and looked down at Kiddo.

He moved his hands to the dirty cloth—

"Agni, I can't do this," he blurted out, voice higher than normal.

He'd have to get a nurse.

Katara could _never _know of this failure.

"Sure you'll do it," he heard Toph say from behind him.

"Oh?" he said through clenched teeth.

"Yep. 'Cause if you don't do this, I'll tell Sokka."

Zuko froze.

She'd tell him too.

"Fuck."

His manhood was on the line, and that just wouldn't do.

Zuko unraveled Kiddo's dirty cloth in record time, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding after he finished.

Okay. So maybe that hadn't been so bad. Now all he had to do was—

Then Kiddo promptly peed on him.


	10. Chapter 10

10

**A/N:**

**Uhhh. So this drabble kind of puts a couple of toes in the 'M' area. It's not bad or scandalous or anything, it's just Zuko thinking like a guy.**

**Fun fact: This was the original ending to **_**Forty Weeks**_**, but I ended up changing it for many reasons, sadly. Thankfully I get to use it here, and it fits a lot better coming from Zuko's POV anyway. So yay!**

**Penultimate drabble. *sniffle***

* * *

SEVEN MONTHS LATER

* * *

Euphoria.

Total _euphoria._

He was sweaty and tired, and his whole body felt hazy with pleasure, and he was pretty sure the guards outside were going to tell everyone about how loud he and Katara had been, but holy fucking _shit _had this been better than anything his sixteen year old self had dreamed up—

Holy.

Fucking.

Shit.

He was on his back, chest heaving, staring at the ceiling and he felt, well, not _smug_, but just… He felt pretty damn good.

Then she started giggling.

He turned his head to the side to find Katara watching him, laughing. She paused, bit her bottom lip, and then fell into another fit of giggling.

He blinked. "That's not normally the reaction I get."

This only seemed to make her laugh even harder. "No, no," she gasped, feebly pushing against his shoulder. "I'm not—" giggle "—laughing because of—" giggle "—_that_." She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. "I'm laughing because…you see…" She let out another howl of laughter, and this time she yanked the silk sheet up over her head so that he couldn't see her.

Zuko felt his ego deflate. Grumbling, he turned his head to face the ceiling again and crossed his arms over his chest. He tried not to feel dejected, but he couldn't help it. He started to run over what they had just done in his mind to see if he'd done anything wrong.

Wait.

Maybe she had faked it? Maybe the act hadn't lasted long enough for her? Maybe he didn't compare to Aang? _Oh god please Agni, fuck no anything other than—_

Shit.

Katara popped up from under the sheet, a wide grin on her face, hair in a wild state of disarray. For a moment he forgot his doubts because she just looked so _stunning. _And happy. He didn't think he'd ever seen her quite this happy before.

That made him feel a little bit better.

"It's just," she began, slightly breathless, "it's just, _it didn't feel like I was having sex with my brother!_"

Zuko blinked.

Horrified.

Flabbergasted.

That's how he felt.

Horrified and flabbergasted.

"W-What?"

She beamed at him, too elated to notice that he was entering into shock. "Aang and I…well I mean it was never like… It was weird. But _this_," she gestured to them both, "was just really, _really great_."

She sat up and leaned back against the headboard, letting the sheet fall away from her naked torso.

He forgot everything, basically. Except her body, which he'd never get tired of looking at.

"You're staring."

He forced himself to look at her face. She looked _smug. _

She reached out and trailed her soft fingertips along his scar. Her expression softened, and he felt his heartbeat speed up. He thought that she was going to say something sentimental, because it was so like Katara to turn the moment into something sappy (which he didn't _really _mind).

Instead she smirked and flicked his forehead. "Again?"


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:**

**I would definitely suggest finishing _Forty Weeks _before reading this, if you haven't already. ;)**

* * *

YEARS GO BY…

* * *

The door to Zuko's office banged open and in stormed his wife, flustered and extremely irritated.

"Your son," she growled, "IS I_MPOSSIBLE_."

Zuko can't help but grin.

Because Katara… Katara had finally met her match, and it was in the form of their twelve your old son, Shen.

"YOU WIPE THAT SMILE OFF OF YOUR FACE."

Zuko's grin only grew. He looked down at the documents spread out across his desk, documents he had abandoned over an hour ago in order to spy on Katara and Shen's waterbending session. It had been hilarious, as per usual.

"I thought we had established," he began smoothly, "that his sarcasm and overall smartass-ness can only come from _your _side of the family. Namely Sokka."

Her eyes narrowed into slits. "You can't weasel out of this. Your genes contributed!"

"Yes they did. He looks exactly like me."

She let out a cry of frustration before marching over to the small mirror he had hanging up by his set of shelves. She began to rake her fingers through her brown curls before settling on a few strands. "I'm getting gray hairs," she said, clearly devastated. Finally she let go of the strands and let out a forlorn sigh. "I'm getting old, Zuko. I have gray hair. I have wrinkles." Zuko rolled his eyes. "And I'm not nearly as in shape as I was ten years ago."

Zuko smirked at her from where he was sitting. "After the moves you pulled last night, I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with that."

She turned around and eyed him with a raised eyebrow. "You've gotten cheeky in your old age."

"We're not _that_ old," he said, watching her step towards him.

"Well, I don't know about you but sometimes I feel _ancient_. I blame the kids." She stopped in front of him, leaning down and running her hand through his hair. Most of it was still black, but there were small streaks of gray on the sides around his ears. Katara smoothed it back (it was still as unruly as ever) before beginning to lean in.

After all this time his heartbeat still quickened at her touch. She brushed her lips against his before moving to straddle him in his chair. She dipped his head back, her fingers winding through his hair as her mouth moved over his. Zuko's hands roamed over her curves, considerably pleased at how their afternoon was turning out.

The office door banged open and Tenzin stepped it.

Katara quickly untangled herself from her husband before turning and face their son, abashed.

Tenzin blinked. "Um. I'm just going to pretend that I didn't just walk in on—" he made a gesture with his hands—"_that_."

Tenzin was seventeen and too handsome for his own good, as Katara liked to say. Too bad Kiddo was completely clueless as to how the servant girls would stare at him when he'd pass them in the halls.

"So anyway," he continued, "I just thought you guys should know that Shen has flooded the garden." Then he turned and bolted out of the office to avoid the impending explosion.

"YOU'RE KIDDING ME." Katara flew out of the room after Tenzin and Zuko stood up and straightened out his rumbled clothes. He left his office, calmly following his panicking wife down the hallway.

Yakone' poked her head out of a room as they passed. "I hear screaming," she stated. "What did Shen do?"

* * *

Two hours later the entire palace was out in the mucky garden in an attempt to clean it up.

Katara was in the middle of giving Shen a lecture—complete with arm waving, and counting off on fingers. The twelve year old didn't look remotely apologetic.

Tenzin and Yakone' were in a heated argument on where the turtle ducks should stay until their pond was fixed up.

And Zuko…Zuko couldn't wipe the stupid smile off of his face as he surveyed them.

He never would have thought he would have turned out to be a family man.

But he had.

* * *

**A/N#2:**

**Zuko is totally a silver fox. Just sayin'.**

**First off, thanks to all of the readers who have reviewed and left me their thoughts. You guys keep me motivated. I had so much fun writing these, guys. Zuko's head is so much fun to dive into. Almost **_**too **_**much fun.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed! Review and let me know what you think!**


End file.
